New England winter wedding inspiration shoot with Gus & Ruby

I will be the first one to tell you that I have long protested inspiration shoots- elaborately planned photo shoots hyper-focused on the details of a wedding that appear in nearly every wedding magazine and blog- for two reasons:

1. I am inherently drawn to photograph the emotion of a wedding, not the details.
2. I detest when I see wedding vendors mix images from these planned sessions in their portfolios. It's misleading to viewers to be displaying showstopping images where all the stars align alongside real weddings where everything is not highly staged.

Our friends at Gus and Ruby have nudged us to participate in these shoots before and the answer was always the same: no, thank you. It seemed almost sacrilegious to our photojournalism roots. Last fall, however, they presented us with an impressively thoughtful concept for a darling cozy winter wedding inspiration shoot. Much to my own surprise, I agreed.

Nine months pregnant and with a snowstorm due the afternoon of the shoot, I stayed behind while the rest of the emilie inc. team ascended on a rustic Dover, New Hampshire, mill that houses the Gus and Ruby Letterpress print studio, White Apron Catering and Wild Orchid Baking- just a few of the many talented vendors participating on this day. From morning til dark they fussed over every jaw-dropping detail that turned even this non-inspiration shoot believer into a huge fan. It was a gratifying experience for our staff to tackle together- not to mention great practice without wedding day pressure- and a successful collaboration with a stellar lineup of vendors we adore. Goodness, I've softened.

Big thanks to the ladies at Gus and Ruby for organizing such a feat, and to all of our fantastic wedding friends for stretching our creative muscle together in the off-season. We loved it and (gasp!) can't wait to do it again.

Below are a handful of the several hundred final images from the day, admittedly most giving you a peek of the day in our preferred photojournalism style. You are welcome to check out more editorial favorites and read about the day over on the Massachusetts Style Me Pretty blog here.